GM workers sue company, union over back pay

WASHINGTON (AP) — A
group of General Motors employees in Ohio is suing the company and the
United Auto Workers, alleging that GM has unfairly denied them full pay
and benefits and the union has not fought for them.

Twenty-eight
employees of GM's Lordstown, Ohio, factory say they have been improperly
classified as temporary employees since being hired in October 2006.
They were terminated in April 2007 and then brought back six months
later. The workers were briefly paid the same wage as permanent
employees, but the lawsuit argues they were reclassified as temporary
workers in June 2008, a move that cut their pay by more than 40 percent.

A
lawyer for the workers, Ken Myers, said they are seeking back pay of
between $3 million and $4 million. The suit also alleges that the UAW
and UAW Local 1112, which represents workers at the plant, refused to
press their complaints.

"The company never should've laid them
off, and when they brought them back, they should have kept them at the
higher pay rate," Myers said. And "the union should have filed
grievances for them."

Tom Mock, communications manager for the
Lordstown plant, which makes the Chevrolet Cruze small car, declined to
comment on the lawsuit.

The
complaint, filed in federal court in Cleveland, said there were 22
other employees hired on a temporary basis at the same time who achieved
permanent status. The company's actions violated collective bargaining
agreements reached between the company and the UAW in 2003 and 2007, the
lawsuit said.

If the suit is successful, the company could seek
to have the union reimburse it for some or all of the money, Myers said,
if it can show that it wasn't notified about the employees' claims in a
timely manner.